DEFINITE ARTICLE
THE
Articles in English are invariable. That is, they do not change according to the gender or number of the noun they refer to, e.g. the boy, the woman, the children
‘The’ is used:
1. to refer to something which has already been mentioned.
Example: An elephant and a mouse fell in love.
The mouse loved the elephant’s long trunk,
and the elephant loved the mouse’s tiny nose.
2. when both the speaker and listener know what is being talked about, even if it has not been mentioned before.
Example: ‘Where’s the bathroom?‘
‘It’s on the first floor.’
3. in sentences or clauses where we define or identify a particular person or object:
Examples: The man who wrote this book is famous.
‘Which car did you scratch?’ ‘The red one.
My house is the one with a blue door.’
4. to refer to objects we regard as unique:
Examples: the sun, the moon, the world
5. before superlatives and ordinal numbers: (see Adjectives)
Examples: the highest building, the first page, the lastchapter.
6. with adjectives, to refer to a whole group of people:
Examples: the Japanese (see Nouns – Nationalities), theold
7. with names of geographical areas and oceans:
Examples: the Caribbean, the Sahara, the Atlantic
8. with decades, or groups of years:
Example: she grew up in the seventies
EXCEPTIONS TO USING THE DEFINITE ARTICLE
There is no article:
- with names of countries (if singular)
Germany is an important economic power.
He’s just returned from Zimbabwe.
(But: I’m visiting the United States next week.)
- with the names of languages
French is spoken in Tahiti.
English uses many words of Latin origin.
Indonesian is a relatively new language.
- with the names of meals.
Lunch is at midday.
Dinner is in the evening.
Breakfast is the first meal of the day.
- with people’s names (if singular):
John‘s coming to the party.
George King is my uncle.
(But: we’re having lunch with the Morgans tomorrow.)
- with titles and names:
Prince Charles is Queen Elizabeth’s son.
President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas.
Dr. Watson was Sherlock Holmes’ friend.
(But: the Queen of England, the Pope.)
- After the ‘s possessive case:
His brother’s car.
Peter’s house.
- with professions:
Engineering is a useful career.
He’ll probably go into medicine.
- with names of shops:
I’ll get the card at Smith’s.
Can you go to Boots for me?
- with years:
1948 was a wonderful year.
Do you remember 1995?
- With uncountable nouns:
Rice is the main food in Asia.
Milk is often added to tea in England.
War is destructive.
- with the names of individual mountains, lakes and islands:
Mount McKinley is the highest mountain in Alaska.
She lives near Lake Windermere.
Have you visited Long Island?
- with most names of towns, streets, stations and airports:
Victoria Station is in the centre of London.
Can you direct me to Bond Street?
She lives in Florence.
They’re flying from Heathrow.
- in some fixed expressions, for example:
|
at school at work at University in church in prison in bed |
-
Is the noun generic?
Generic reference is used when one refers to a whole group or class, to generalize about all possible members of a group. There are five patterns one can use:
- no article PLUS plural count noun:
It’s astonishing what gymnasts can do.
- no article PLUS noncount noun:
Love can cause a lot of suffering.
- indefinite article PLUS singular count noun:
It’s astonishing what a gymnast can do.
[This pattern cannot be used to discuss the location or existence of something/someone. You cannot say A lion lives in Africa. You must use pattern (a) or (d)].
- definite article PLUS singular count noun:
It’s astonishing what the gymnast can do.
- definite article PLUS plural nationality noun:
The Chinese have an ancient culture.
- no article PLUS plural count noun:
Pattern (a) is most common in colloquial English; pattern (d) is frequently used in academic writing.
http://www.world-english.org/articles.htm
http://englishlearner.com/tests/the_definite_article_1.shtml
